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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22556569">Keeper</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/pseuds/Foxglove_Fiction'>Foxglove_Fiction</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Veterinarians, Boys In Love, Don't Post To Another Site, Falling In Love, Feel-good, Just Add Kittens, M/M, POV Tony Stark, Romantic Fluff, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Sweet, Trap Neuter Release, animal lovers, injured animals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:36:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22556569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/pseuds/Foxglove_Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is many things in his life, but the thing he takes the most pride in is his work with TNR and fostering animals - and maybe that human-shaped animal he lives with. Despite his promises to his roommate that he'll never adopt any of them himself, one special little kitten is going to turn his whole world upside down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers &amp; Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>134</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Introduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Before we continue and anyone is surprised, given the subject matter of this story there <i>will</i> be discussions of and scenes involving animals who are injured or in distress, including one prolonged case. I will be doing as much as I can to avoid getting terribly graphic about it without overlooking some of the difficulties and the signs of these things - partially because I also cannot stomach animals in pain. There will be <i>no</i> abuse of animals in this story.</p><p>This story was inspired by a real-life kitten who is now recovering and living happily in her forever home. As much as I keep calling this my "Vet AU" the reality is this is a TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) AU, focused more on the efforts of the people who help cats that live on the street as much as fostering kittens and helping to get them accustomed to interacting with humans so they can eventually go to safe homes. There are so many amazing people out in the world who are doing everything they can to promote a healthy environment for cats, and put themselves out there to rescue cats and kittens in need, and I wanted to celebrate that in my own way.</p><p>There will be <i>zero</i> anti-Cap sentiment in this story. This isn't ex-Stony or anything like that, so if you're looking for salt this is also not the story for you.</p><p>This is my soft baby of a story despite everything above. I will do my best to remember to warn for any particularly detailed moments regarding injured animals, but please be advised in advance that there will be a few of these!</p><p>This chapter is unbetaed. Mostly because I'm impatient and wanted to share it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Every day their schedule was the same, in principle: at 7AM they woke up, Steve fed Boomer and Tony checked on any of the cats they were fostering if they had any. By 8AM Boomer was collared up and the three took a stroll around the streets of Brooklyn. They made their rounds past three of Tony’s usual points where he cheerfully put some food out for the local community cats and checked to see if there were any newbies amidst the colonies.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most of the cats were the same familiar feral cats with their ears tipped, though Tony always had a trap ready in case he saw any unneutered feral cats. Boomer was surprisingly good about being around the cats, though many of the cats seemed uncertain about him. He’d learned after a good few swats not to get too close to them - his nose still bore a scar from the swat that he learned his lesson from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cat they came across that morning was luckily easier to pick up than some of them. It meant walking back home with a trap that rattled and hissed on occasion, but they were both fairly used to it at that point. From there, Steve let Boomer off the leash and Tony took the cat to the spare room to help it settle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then came the phone calls. Tony was on the phone for twenty minutes as he set up the cat cage for the day, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get into the clinic until the next day. The box was set up with food and a litter box, then a blanket over the top to keep the feral cat within from stressing out too much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sat on the couch for the rest of the morning with Boomer’s head in his lap while he worked on an update for his site. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t as though he needed money - even as a bit of a cast out from the Stark empire, Tony earned a considerable royalty off of many of his inventions and contributions to the R&amp;D department, and he was happy to spend it rescuing animals and helping his childhood friend. Regardless, he didn’t want the venture to be a complete financial sink, and aside from the cost of basic supplies (food, litter and the like), the remainder of the proceeds went to fund charities in various shelters as well as an emergency fund at a couple of veterinary clinics around the city, for those who needed the help.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been years since he’d left his dad’s clutches and in many ways Steve was the reason for it. His stint overseas with the army had done a number on him, and his best friend going AWOL made matters considerably worse. It hadn’t taken much to convince the man to be his roommate, and Steve’s housewarming gift had been a rescued collie mutt that Steve had affectionately named Boomer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d bought a three-level townhouse in Brooklyn that sufficed as a base of operations for them, with three bedrooms, and months later they’d had their discussions about Tony’s desire to help with the neighbourhood cat situation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just promise me you won’t adopt any of them. I don’t think my allergies could handle it,” Steve had requested. And Tony couldn’t help but agree. It was perfectly fair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So the spare room became a home for cats as he fostered, rehabilitated and briefly homed cats for neutering. Over the last few years, it had become an increasingly well-decorated room. He couldn’t keep the cats, but many of the cats that he fostered wound up going to their forever homes with an excess of gifts and many well-wishes from Tony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their journies were well-documented for a couple of social media sites that Tony managed, but the pictures were close to Tony’s heart anyway. Each and every one of them was special to him in their own way, and receiving updates from furever homes always brightened his day.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He answered a couple of emails and comments about caring for foster animals and did a quick video call with a young woman who was dealing with natal kittens whose mom wasn’t caring for two of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time Steve returned from the gym, Tony was working on dinner with his eyes on the baby monitor camera set up to check on the feral cat in the spare room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s the new one doing?” Steve asked, petting Boomer’s head as he divested himself of his outerwear and made his way into the kitchen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Behaving. They’re scared, but they definitely seem to be considerably more comfortable when they’re alone, so I’m just leaving them be for now. I have an appointment first thing tomorrow morning for them, so I won’t be on the walk with you and Boomer. Think you can take a trap out and keep an eye out?” Tony asked as he looked up at the well-built man in his sweat-soaked shirt and gave him a smirk of admiration. There were certain perks to having Steve as a roommate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Boomer in one hand, a trap in the other… what could go wrong?” Steve chuckled a bit at that, reaching to give Boomer his usual treat and a ruffle of the head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to go take a quick shower. Need a hand with anything dinner-wise when I’m out?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah, I’ve got it. Thanks, though. Have a good shower.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The evening went by quietly with Steve watching his PVRed soap opera of choice in the living room while Tony retired to his own room for the evening, calling up a couple of friends to ask about their days and eventually settling in to watch a movie and work on some designs for a couple of hours.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Come morning, Tony and his spicy companion took a short car ride over to the vet’s for his appointment. The elderly man who was the clinic’s primary veterinarian had been working in the same location for as long as Tony had been living in Brooklyn, but he was pretty sure the man had to be in his late 70s now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It came as no surprise, then, that as the cat was recovering from the surgery and shots, and being prepared to head back home with Tony, the man gave him the heads up about his retirement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The wife wants to move to Florida,” he chuckled a little bit. “She promised me there were animals in need in Florida, too, but I think we both know that I’m due for retirement.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re becoming a stereotype, old man. Retiring and moving to Florida? Really?” Tony teased lightly, and the vet shrugged helplessly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My wife’s happiness is valuable to me and key to my happiness at home. Happy wife, happy life or something like that, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you definitely deserve it, doc. Thank you so much for all you’ve done to help over the past few years. You’ve done everyone a great service. We’ll miss you,” Tony smiled warmly, reaching to shake the man’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You keep doing the service you’re doing, Stark. We’re interviewing new hires soon, and Mason and Ives will both be here still, so I’m sure you and your cats will be in good hands.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“No newcomers,” Steve announced cheerfully as Tony returned home, following after him into the hall and remaining outside the spare room. “My allergies are grateful. How’d everything go with the vet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well enough. Doc Morrison’s retiring with his old lady to Florida,” Tony sighed as he replenished the feral cat’s food and water, setting everything up again so that the poor thing could get a rest while he recovered. “Home again tomorrow, little guy,” he promised the cat quietly, before getting up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t refer to a lady by her age, Tony,” Steve teased lightly, closing the door behind him as they headed out of the room again. He stood in the doorway as Tony washed his hands in the bathroom, rolling his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re very funny. Have you thought about being a stand-up comedian?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. But I have been thinking of going back to school,” Steve offered a little smile in response to Tony’s look of surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, college? University? Why is this the first I’m hearing of this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not like I’m starting tomorrow, I wanted to talk to you about it. Especially because if I’m in school I’ll be leaving you to take care of Booker </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> the cats. Plus, uh…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need a hand dealing with the tuition? Doesn’t the army give you some benefits or aid in terms of that?” Tony inquired thoughtfully. He was far from opposed to helping his friend get on his feet if he was finally ready to take the plunge into figuring out a career. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hadn’t put much thought into how much Steve would get in terms of assistance for post-secondary and outside of training Tony was fairly certain the man hadn’t been in a learning environment since high school.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure how to apply for scholarships and that kind of thing,” Steve sighed heavily, slumping onto the couch as they settled in the living room. “I already know you’re not charging me as much for rent as you rightly should, and it’s not like I do much to help with the cats… I feel like a waste of space. I really think it’s time. I’m not talking about anything financial-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not that I’d be opposed to helping you that way if you needed it,” Tony piped up, but Steve continued to talk over him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“-just with the documentation and stuff. I need your technical expertise. Plus, you have like, what, how many PhDs now? You gotta know a thing or two about this whole process.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, for one thing, I didn’t apply for any scholarships or anything like that. I paid out of pocket for my schooling on principle. For another thing, what are you thinking of going into? What kind of education are you looking to get?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I did think about, you know, being a personal trainer or something like that, you remember?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, as I recall that didn’t go well for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What can I say? My fitness education was military, I guess I’m a bit more strict that people would like,” Steve sighed. “But I was actually thinking of going into massage therapy… maybe particularly helping vets with injuries. I’d love to help people by doing physical therapy but that seems like a lot more medical knowledge than I have, and it would be a considerably longer course, I imagine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only a few weeks later that their daily schedule changed. Steve was up earlier. Boomer got a quick jog around the neighbourhood with Steve before he was off to school, and Tony was saddled with a dog and three young kittens who were being acclimatized to contact with humans.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first day sucked, but his life was about to change rather more dramatically.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Friday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Minor warning for some descriptions of sickness and slight eye grossness. I legit don't know how better to describe it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Finding and catching strays was a little more challenging without Steve, but over the last few months he’d gotten a good handle on it. The hardest part was knowing that he couldn’t bring Boomer with him on these trips. It meant two walks a day for Tony - one for the dog, and one to gather cats. He felt very much like he was juggling animals.</p><p>While chatting with some of the neighbours who kept an eye out for animals, he heard about her - a rather scrawny, sickly-looking kitten that had been seen around. Pepper had done her best to try and figure out where the little one was hiding while he was on his walk with Boomer, and by the time he returned she’d managed to coax the kitten out.</p><p>It was clear the little one wasn’t going to find her way into a trap. She barely seemed to be able to figure her way around anywhere, but with Pepper staying very still near the food, the duo managed to eventually wrap her in a bundle of blankets. </p><p>The kitten mewled in absolute distress as Tony gently put her into a carrier along with some food and water. His heart hurt for her, but there was only so much he could do. He had no way of reassuring her that he was here to help.</p><p>“Do you want a ride home?” Pepper asked, her voice barely louder than the mewling kitten, and Tony offered her a warm smile in response.</p><p>“A ride as long as the whole minute it’ll take to get home? I appreciate the offer, Pepper, but I’ll walk.”</p><p>“Alright. Good luck with her, Tony,” the redhead smiled. “And good luck little one, I hope you get better soon.”</p><p>The walk home didn’t take long, but there was a lot swimming through his head as he considered the small mewling kitten in the crate. His free hand dialled up the vet clinic as he walked, putting the phone to his ear as he listened to it ring.</p><p>When the receptionist answered, Tony smiled a bit to himself. “Hey, Christine, nice to hear your voice again.”</p><p>“Ah, Tony! What have you got for us this time?”</p><p>“Little kitten, calling them Friday for now.” That earned a chuckle from the other end of the line and Tony shrugged helplessly. “I haven’t had my second cup today, I’m not feeling super creative.”</p><p>“Alright, we’ll book Friday in for tomorrow first thing if that works for you?”</p><p>“Sure. How’s the new doctor? Anything to worry about?”</p><p>“No, he’s… well, he loves animals. What more can you ask for from a vet? You’ll meet him tomorrow at your appointment.”</p><p>“Does he have a name?” Tony inquired after a moment.</p><p>“Oh, of course. You’ll love this. Doctor Strange,” Christine laughed lightly over the phone. “You’ll have to figure everything else out on your own.”</p><p>“... Doctor Strange,” Tony reiterated, shaking his head a bit. “Alright. Tomorrow at nine, see you then.”</p><p>“Looking forward to it.”</p>
<hr/><p>“She’s looking pretty sick, Tony,” Steve stated softly as he joined him, freshly home from class. “What’s wrong with her?”</p><p>“Severe respiratory infection, by the looks of it,” Tony sighed softly as he held the small kitten, bundled in a blanket. He sat in the ensuite bathroom in his room, perched on the toilet seat as he washed the little one’s face.</p><p>With all the dirt and muck that had been on her before it had been hard to say what colour she was, but now that she was clean there was no mistaking the dark stripes on silver-grey fur that made it clear enough to him that she was a silver tabby. Her head was slowly coming clean now to give Steve a peek at her beautiful colouration, though with the rest of her body bundled up that was the only hints of her coat he had.</p><p>“Her eyes… they’re a lot further gone than most of the others we’ve seen like this…”</p><p>“Yeah, that they are. I have her set up for an appointment for tomorrow, but I’m just finishing up her little flea bath. She can’t join the others given how sick she is… not until we have her on antibiotics or… Whatever will help her…”</p><p>It was a long process. An exhausting one. The little one didn’t want to be wet, but he was sure she didn’t want fleas either, and the parasites were going to do more damage to her than a full-grown cat given how small she was.</p><p>He had to recognize that with how small and sick she was there was a very real possibility that she wouldn’t make it, but neither of them said it aloud. </p><p>They knew. There was no reason to say it. The heaviness of that possibility sat on them both regardless.</p><p>Steve gave him a hand drying the kitten off before they set up a pen for the little one to rest in, laying out food and water for her. Once Steve left to do his homework, Tony checked on his other kittens briefly, making sure everything was clean and going well. </p><p>He spent a little time making sure he was in contact with them, helping them associate hands and people with food and general positivity.</p><p>For the most part, the kittens were good. He had a few years of experience doing this now, and the kittens themselves, more than anything, just wanted to play. They were used to him. The food bringer. The love giver.</p><p>They weren’t ready for homes yet, they were still a few weeks away from adoption, but Tony already had a couple of people lined up to adopt them. They’d been screened and profiled, and their final evaluation was soon enough. People loved the kittens so much, and as always Tony understood. They were precious. But they would never be his. As always.</p><p>He knew where Steve stood on that.</p><p>It didn’t stop his heart from aching every time he thought about them leaving, but the pictures he received from the new owners at their forever homes helped to ease his heart over the matter.</p><p>The evening was the worst part. He could hear the little one crying in his bathroom as he was getting himself ready for bed. The pitiful mewls echoed through his door despite that he had arranged Friday in blankets earlier on to try and keep her warm. It was a long night. Though she slept through much of it the times she did wake led to him getting out of bed to make sure she could find her food okay before tucking her in again.</p><p>When morning came around he was exhausted.</p><p>He checked in on the trio of kittens he had in his usual kitten room, making sure they had everything they needed and a clean litter box before he gathered up Friday in a clean crate and loaded her up in the car. It didn’t take much travel time from his place to the clinic, despite a little bit of traffic, and he was grateful for that. Friday, as it turned out, did not like car rides, and he couldn’t blame her.</p><p>“Tony! Good morning!” a cheerful and familiar-looking brunette woman greeted him as he entered, getting to her feet and moving around the desk to crouch by the table he’d placed the carrier on.</p><p>“Good morning, Christine. How are you today?”</p><p>“Hopeful for a good day,” she chuckled softly. “Good morning, Friday. The doctor should be ready to see you pretty soon… How has she been?”</p><p>“Noisy, but she’s hasn’t had any diarrhea or anything, but her breathing is a bit staggered and she definitely cries fairly often for attention. She’s clearly hungry but it’s a little difficult to get her to eat.”</p><p>“Christine, did we miss something yesterday? A reschedule?” a deep voice broke into their conversation as someone entered the room. He seemed far too young for the grey hair that seemed to grace his temples, but his attention was on the pad in his hand. “All it says is ‘Friday, T.S.’ so I’m not sure what…” he trailed off after a moment, looking up at them.</p><p>“Ah, good morning. You must be our nine o’clock,” he smiled, and Tony couldn’t help but echo the smile.</p><p>“Good morning, yes. I’m Tony Stark and the little one in here is Friday. I do rescue work, and I wasn’t feeling particularly creative about naming this little one,” he explained, feeling strangely self-conscious about the name given the doctor’s confusion. “And you must be Doctor Strange?” Though, given the man’s name he probably shouldn’t have felt so self-conscious.</p><p>“Ah! I’ve heard a lot about you, Mister Stark. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”</p><p>Tony offered a hand at first, though the doctor seemed rather hesitant to take it, looking at Tony’s hands in uncertainty for a moment until Tony tucked it away again. “No touching, got it. Nice to meet you, too, doc.”</p><p>“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude-”</p><p>“No, no worries. I have hang-ups about being handed things. So we’ll call it even?”</p><p>The doctor smiled a little more at that and gave a nod. “I appreciate the understanding. I’ll keep that in mind. In the event that I would hand you something, would you prefer that I set it down somewhere and allow you to pick it up on your own, or…?”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s perfect. We’ve got an understanding,” Tony grinned a bit, reaching to pick up the carrier. “Shall we?”</p><p>“Of course. Please, this way. Christine? Can you send Wong in when he’s scrubbed up?”</p><p>“Right away, Stephen,” the woman chimed as he led Tony into one of the examination rooms.</p><p>“So, what can you tell me about Friday? As a rescue, I don’t imagine you know too much about her overall but as a rescuer, I’m sure you know a thing or two.”</p><p>“She’s fairly young, I’d guess around five weeks old. It’s a little hard to tell because she’s a tiny bit wobbly on her own right now. I would blame that on the fact that the mucus gunking up her eyes seems to be blinding her, so she’s not exactly graceful,” Tony explained as the doctor carefully removed her from her carrier, setting her up on the table to give her a look.</p><p>“As I was explaining to Christine, she’s not vomiting, no diarrhea, but she’s hesitant about eating despite being hungry. Her breathing sounds a little rattle-y to me, and with that and the mucus from her eyes and nose I’m thinking she has a pretty bad respiratory infection.”</p><p>“That… seems very plausible,” Strange nodded a little, taking a quick listen to the kitten’s lungs and frowning. “Her eyes actually appear to be deteriorating some… we’ll get her on some antibiotics before we make any calls about how best to handle things. It’s not impossible that her eyes will recover, but this is… not great.”</p><p>“That’s what I was worried about,” Tony sighed softly as the little kitten in Strange’s hands mewled in uncertainty.</p><p>“She’ll need a lot of care to recover. Hand-feeding is advisable if she’s not eating on her own, and mixing her medicine in with the food.”</p><p>“Ah, is she a girl? I definitely rushed to conclusions on that one, I figured I had a fifty-fifty shot on that,” he asked as the familiar vet tech made his way into the room. “Morning, Wong.”</p><p>“Good morning, Mister Stark,” Wong responded, moving over to hold the kitten in a spot for Stephen, gently stroking her head as Strange checked.</p><p>“She appears to be a girl, yes,” he confirmed after a moment. “Do you need instructions on how to feed her?”</p><p>“No, no. I’ve done neonatal care, so I’m fairly familiar with feeding processes. As long as you’ve got the dose on the bottle for her medicine, we should be fine,” Tony assured him with a smile, which grew as he watched the vet lower himself to get a little closer to the kitten’s face.</p><p>“Then I suppose this little girl is in good hands.”</p><p>There were a few moments of quiet as Strange went over the other and Wong held her carefully as he gave her a couple of shots, before petting her gently. “We’ll have you come back in a couple of days and see how she’s faring, but call the office if you need help with anything."</p><p>There was quiet for a moment as Tony put Friday back into the carrier and Strange wrote out a prescription. "You can also call me directly after-hours if something comes up," the doctor added as he set the prescription on the table for him. "Christine can get you the prescription and my number if you’d like."</p><p>"Are you hitting on me, doc?" Tony teased as he grabbed the carrier and prescription.</p><p>The vet smirked a bit at that, but didn't respond directly - Tony suspected that had something to do with the way Wong looked at him.</p><p>"As I said, you can call me at my number after-hours if anything comes up,” the doctor carefully reiterated, opening the door for him and giving him a small smile. “I respect and appreciate the work you do. I’d like to support that to the best of my capabilities. Christine can help you with getting the medicine and anything else you may need in the meantime. Good luck, Mister Stark.”</p><p>“Thank you, Doctor Strange,” Tony smiled in return, moving to set Friday on the reception desk and getting the prescription and number from Christine. He did his best not to make an issue of the number being slid across the counter to him along with the medicine, but he couldn’t help but feel oddly giddy about the whole ordeal.</p><p>But, first thing first, he needed to get Friday back in good health.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Huge thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravehardt/pseuds/Bravehardt">Bravehardt</a> for betaing this chapter for me! You're an absolute blessing!! 💖</p><p>And thank you to those who have waited patiently for a little over a month since the intro was put out. It's been a busy month to try and balance two stories (and a secret third story that y'all may be seeing soon in collaboration with my wonderful beta/cowriter) so there are many things happening!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rehabilitation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Her eyes really aren’t going to recover, are they?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry to say that I doubt it based on what you’ve told me so far,” Stephen Strange sat across from him on the porch outside a coffee shop, gloved hands curled around a cup of tea as he offered a small smile. “If she was fully grown I’d likely recommend we take her eyes out before they rot and cause infection. All we can do until that point is keep her clean and keep an eye on things until she’s old enough for the surgery.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Boomer yawned a little and rested his head against Tony’s foot as he sipped at his coffee, frowning slightly. “I haven’t dealt with a blind kitten before… this is going to be a bit of a learning curve.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As it had turned out, Stephen hadn’t been joking about calling him any time. Today was his day off and Tony had called the office with some questions. He’d been hesitant to call the doctor at home, two weeks after his first appointment with the man, but Stephen hadn’t hesitated to suggest that they meet up and discuss the issues in person.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hadn’t pushed to go to Tony’s townhouse, nor asked more than when and where they should meet up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So far it had been nice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was quiet, no real expectations beyond that they would discuss Friday a little bit. Admittedly he hadn’t anticipated the conversation would go this way, even though he had some sneaking suspicions about the state of her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So it’s pretty much a done deal, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not necessarily,” Stephen responded with a slight sigh, “but most likely. I’d need to get a better look at her eyes once the infection has cleared her system to know for sure. This kind of assessment isn’t exactly a formal one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If she is blind, then what kind of steps am I going to need to be considering?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Have you handled disabled animals before at all?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not as kittens. I fostered an adult amputee for a little while until we found him a good home, but he’d been an amputee for a while and his owner had passed away. We’ve had a couple of sick ones who passed away as well, but their disabilities were related to illness that we couldn’t do anything about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So this is your first time handling anything like this?” the vet hummed softly as he finally set his mostly-emptied teacup down. “She’s young, so the good news is she’ll likely adapt quickly. Use sounds for stimulus rather than sight. Train her by using noises to help her find new platforms, and don’t coddle her too much while she learns the heights. She’ll fall now and again, and as long as she hasn’t landed in a way she shouldn’t, there’s no reason to be too concerned. It’ll help her with judging distances. In theory, with enough time and energy, she’ll be able to map out the area and be getting along in no time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose she really is young… there’s no saying how long she was able to see before this happened, so…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So she probably isn’t missing much. She’s just a kitten, like most other kittens. Auditory stimulus should be fairly easy to provide given how many kitten toys make squeaking and crinkling noises.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony sighed and gave a little nod. “Once she’s got the all-clear as having recovered from the respiratory infection will it be safe to put her in with Dum-E, Butterfingers and U?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kittens?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, my other fosters,” Tony smiled warmly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It shouldn’t be much of an issue. They’ll need to get used to her a little bit, but I’m sure you know how important it often is to socialize a kitten with others. They’re not likely to ostracize her or anything of the sort, and they’ll probably aid with helping her find her way around places.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The all-clear came two days later with her appointment, though Stephen did take the time to check her eyes and pointed out the milkiness of them - a signifier that Friday wasn’t seeing anything through them. The news tore at his heart regardless of how relieved he was to be able to introduce her to her foster brothers once they got home, and despite the strange warmth that watching Stephen interact with the kitten brought him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the verdict?” Steve asked over his homework as he watched Tony hauling the carrier in. Tony gave him a slight smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good news and bad news,” he offered as he toed out of his shoes. “Good news is that she’s over the infection and ready to meet the gang. Bad news is…” Tony trailed off, and Steve gave him a sad smile in response.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s blind, huh?” the big blonde man got to his feet to make his way over and kneel beside the cage that Friday mewled in softly. “It’s alright, sweetheart, you’re in the best of hands.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have a lot of faith in me,” Tony responded as he lifted the cage and Steve followed him into the other room, pulling out his camera to capture the kitten’s first interaction with her foster brothers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I do, Tony. You’ve always been good at fixing things. And people,” he added quietly. Tony turned to look at Steve as the words crept up on him and surprised him. “... that’s just what you do. You fix broken things, or things that everyone else thinks are irreparable. Friday couldn’t be in better hands.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t know I needed to hear that today but… thank you, Steve. That’s a boost of confidence I sorely needed.” Tony sat on the floor with the carrier in his lap as he allowed two tuxedo cats and a little black boy with white socks to come scrambling over to their resident treat giver.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first little unsure mewl from Friday caught Butterfingers’ attention immediately. The kitten slunk closer to sniff at the crate for a moment before Tony finally opened it, tossing one of the new crinkly toys onto the floor and watching Dum-E and U go skittering after it. Butterfingers looked between the opened crate and his brothers indecisively. His ears twitched a bit as he heard the others playing, but it was only a couple moments later that Friday tentatively crept out, sniffing around curiously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The new kitten spooked Butterfingers at first, with the kitten jumping up a little and puffing up in response, though over the several minutes that followed he seemed to settle down, and by the time Tony rolled a ball with a bell forward, he seemed plenty content to chase it alongside his unsteady new friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Friday followed after the noisy bell easily enough despite her unsure footing, and while she bumped into things now and then, the bell toy seemed to be a good source of guidance until she came under attack. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gave a squeak of surprise, rolling onto her back to try and fend off a playful U, and Tony hovered closely during the process to make sure he wasn’t doing anything to hurt her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end, their meeting went surprisingly smoothly and when Tony set out food for the four kittens there were no squabbles over the dishes the way he anticipated, leaving him to give Steve the thumbs up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The filming ceased, and the two men made their way out of the room, though Tony brought a baby monitor with him just in case to make certain nothing went terribly awry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next day Tony began taking steps to help Friday acclimatize to the new room. She got a grasp of the layout of the floor easily enough - at least well enough to know how not to run into things in the first couple of days, </span>
  <em>
    <span>aside from a kitten or two</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Step two was helping her determine heights and distances.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Getting her up on one of the platforms of the cat tree took a little time and several missed attempts that Tony couldn’t help but get on camera. She was a sweetheart, and would often seek him out after her fumblings, crawling into his lap and purring as she sought reassurance before a new squeak would catch her attention.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She made the first hop after an hour or two of practice, and Tony couldn’t have been more proud of her, sharing the video to his followers and sending the unedited cut to Stephen to make sure he was doing things properly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘You’re doing perfectly,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> was the response he received. Tony couldn’t help but grin widely at that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Pretty sure she’s the one doing perfectly. I’m just the guy making crinkly noises at her.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen was the first person to hear that Friday had made it to the top of the cat tree on her own. The video wasn’t published to his social media accounts until much later, and in his excitement to show off Friday’s success, Tony didn’t think to question why his instinct was to tell Stephen about the success first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t matter that she nearly bailed off of the top of the cat tree after reaching it, Friday had managed to get up there on her own without any prompting from him and he was proud of her beyond words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her new siblings were doing their best to catch her tail or steal the treats she’d earned, but in the end she decided to cuddle into Tony’s lap and pass out, and Tony couldn’t bring himself to move from that spot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So it was that three hours later Steve found him passed out and covered in kittens, shaking his head a bit as he attempted to determine the best way to get him up to eat. Despite his allergies, he carefully lifted up Butterfingers and Dum-E, barely getting a merp out of one of them as he placed them gently into one of the cat beds, before gathering up the other two to join them, watching the sleepy kittens snuggle in against each other.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gently nudged Tony, careful not to touch his own face given that his nose already felt itchy. “Tony, c’mon. Time for dinner,” he called softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony shifted slightly in his spot before looking around in confusion and rubbing at his head, covering his mouth as he yawned. “Shit… what time is it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Almost seven,” Steve chuckled. “Boomer needed to go out pretty badly by the time I got in. When did you fall asleep?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... I have no idea. Around four?” He took Steve’s hand to get to his feet and followed the man out even as Steve went to wash his hands. “Did I really sleep that long? And the kittens didn’t disturb me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were covered in kittens when I found you,” the blonde man grinned at him, and Tony groaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I guess I’m gonna be up all night then. I should do some editing anyway. A couple more weeks and they’ll all get to go to a new home,” Tony smiled a bit as the pair made their way to the dining room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your least favourite thing, I know,” Steve responded, starting to plate dinner before taking a seat. “Do you have any bites, yet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A few for the boys.” Tony sighed softly. “I’m hoping that showing that Friday really is just as capable as they are will be sufficient - she’s getting lots of love and support, but so far there’s been nothing on the adoption front.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is the problem the need for her to have that surgery? Is that something you can talk to the doc about?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure. I’ll be seeing him tomorrow, maybe I’ll have him come by and take a look at her in this environment. I’m hoping he’ll have some ideas and more information on what would be involved in her surgery along with the costs and such.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hope that helps. I’m glad he’s been so proactive about helping you with Friday,” Steve smiled a bit at that. “She deserves a good home.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To no one's surprise <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravehardt/pseuds/Bravehardt">Bravehardt</a> is my wonderful beta for this chapter once again! I swear, I had like 75% of this chapter done for almost two weeks before I was finally able to get that last scene out. Phew!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Adoption</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So… these are the current applications,” Tony sighed softly, offering the three sheets to Stephen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen sat on the couch, the afternoon sun highlighting his face in a rather handsome way, catching on the different strands of hair and giving him almost a halo. He looked at the first sheet while gently petting Boomer’s head as the dog had taken up a spot on the couch to rest his head in Stephen’s lap. The vet didn’t look impressed by what he read, however, as he passed one of the sheets back to Tony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d like that any more than I did.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If they think a small child is the only required companion for a kitten at all you’ll find that I’m not going to be a fan. I imagine you’d think much the same.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t approve of adopting kittens out on their own. It’s not fair to them,” Tony agreed quietly, setting the sheet aside and sipping at his coffee.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen shook his head at that, looking over the next sheet as he gave Boomer’s ear a scratch, not seeming to notice or care about the way the dog’s foot thumped against the couch along with the scratches.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Friday was still a few days off from being adopted officially, but that didn’t stop Tony from considering the applications given how few of them there were. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen had been kind enough to agree to come over on his day off to help Tony with the applications - though really it was more of an excuse to have Stephen come visit than anything. None of the applications seemed promising, given Friday’s unique needs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Having Stephen over for lunch, however, was a pleasure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man tilted his head a little at the third application, hesitating, and Tony smiled a little as he watched a few hairs tickle the man’s forehead in a way Tony couldn’t help but admire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This application doesn’t look so bad,” Stephen hummed, glancing up at Tony. “What’s the catch?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I heard from others that this person has adopted kittens for clout and then dumped them as soon as they were no longer ‘cute enough,’” Tony sighed. “So I looked into it and…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s no way that Friday will survive rehoming after something like that. That’s…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Despicable?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s putting it mildly,” Stephen responded, crumpling up the application and tossing it across the room. Boomer immediately leapt from the couch and darted off towards where the paper fell, which brought a smile to the vet’s face again as the dog tore the paper into a few pieces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I’ve let some of the local shelters know about her, but I’m not going to let her use Friday for some kind of clout. I wish I could keep her myself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why can’t you?” Stephen tilted his head a little, turning his attention from Boomer to fix an inquisitive gaze on Tony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My roommate’s allergic. I made him a promise,” Tony sighed a little, getting to his feet and starting to lead the man towards the kitten room. “No keeping them. I’m doing my part trying to help, but I can only do so much. I can at least prepare them for a good home-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, I’m not judging you,” Stephen interrupted as Tony rambled on, following after him towards the room, his voice soft. “Some people can’t house them. But there are all kinds of things that someone can do to help with their allergies depending on the severity… if that’s something he’s willing to look into. And if not, that’s okay, too. I’m sure you have a nicely organized room and all for her, but Friday seems like a wonderful cat and more than that, she seems to like you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know,” Tony sighed, opening the door carefully and scooting through before gesturing for Stephen to join him. “I know. But she deserves a good home, and finding her one is the best thing I can do for her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, hello cuties,” Stephen smiled a bit as he slid through the door and took a seat on the floor, not at all concerned about the sudden headbutt his thigh received from Butterfingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“These boys all have homes lined up, but I’m so hesitant to let them go before I can home Friday. I don’t want her to be alone,” Tony admitted softly, reaching to gather up the kitten in question and give her a few good head scratches. “I wanted her and Butterfingers to be adopted together since they get along so well, but… Butterfingers is going to a home that already has a cat, and Dum-E and U are being homed together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So it’s just little Friday,” Stephen hummed softly. “I’ll ask around… see if I can find something for her. But I’m not making any promises.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not,” Tony grinned at him, setting the kitten back down and grinning at the man.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“She’s on her own now,” Tony sighed softly as he sat with his coffee in front of their usual diner. “She’s so lonely all the time that I’ve started trying to work in there with her, but that’s not fair to Boomer, either. Neither of them are used to being alone. I even slept in there last night with her…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen watched him from across the table, hands curled around his cup of tea. “I wish I had any news in that department. How did Steve take the talk about keeping her?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He was sympathetic but steadfast. I acknowledged we’d made an agreement. There wasn’t much more to talk about.” Tony’s gaze dropped to the table as he picked at the salad on the table. “I can’t keep her… I can’t find her a good home… if I can’t do any of that, what am I going to do with her? I’ve loved every one of the cats I’ve looked after, but with Friday I’m utterly in love with her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know,” Stephen responded softly, reaching a hand across the table and wrapping it carefully around Tony’s, squeezing lightly. “Everything is going to be okay. No matter what happens, Friday will end up in a good home, safe and loved. I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you promise that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I can,” the vet chuckled, shaking his head and offering a warm smile. “Friday is a wonderful, lovable kitten. I’m sure we’ll find something for her, no matter what. So yes, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony returned the squeeze after a moment, smiling and finding himself relaxed and comforted by Stephen’s presence, the hand helping to ground him. He trusted Stephen, and that trust helped to relieve some of his anxiety about the situation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m always talking about Friday before I even ask how you are,” Tony chuckled softly, finding his hand lingering in Stephen’s grasp and not finding himself bothered by it in the slightest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I did ask how you were, and Friday’s well-being is relevant to how you are,” the other man reminded him, giving one more squeeze before retrieving his hand to take a couple of bites of his sandwich. Tony immediately missed the comfort of his hand, but once Stephen had finished his mouthful he smiled cheerfully enough.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been okay,” he answered after a sip of tea. “My former roommate recently moved back to his home country to take care of family, so the condo has been quiet. It’s not normally an issue, but sometimes… things don’t go well, and it feels strange to be alone while grieving.” Stephen became vaguely quiet for a moment before offering a tentative smile, “not to make things heavy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have some friends to call or anything when you don’t want to be alone?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen didn’t speak for a long moment, but even as it edged into discomfort the vet looked up at Tony and gave a slight shrug. “I had a falling out with some friends before I moved here… that was part of the reason I moved. The person I would usually call works in Emergency at a hospital, so her hours are really erratic and she can’t always get back to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can always call me, you know? I don’t mind,” Tony offered with a slightly crooked smile. “I mean, you made yourself available for me whenever I needed, the least I can do is offer the same in return.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t have to offer anything in return,” Stephen tilted his head. He took another sip of his tea, before smiling slightly. “This isn’t an exchange of services, you don’t owe me anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not about owing you anything. It’s about being concerned about someone I care about, and wanting to help. I keep sitting around here griping about Friday, but… Friday isn’t the whole world, I went whining about that without really considering your position-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tony, it’s no imposition. No one’s expecting you to be a mind-reader,” the vet chuckled softly, finishing off his tea. “I appreciate your offer, and I’ll keep it under consideration.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please do. It’s an open invitation. I mean, you know where I live, so you can come by any time,” Tony smiled warmly. He found himself missing the feel of the other man’s hand in his own as he finished off his coffee, before leaning back in his chair and stretching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve got me now, at least. Anything you wanna do for the next couple of hours? Steve’s home and has the pets under his watchful eyes for a bit…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Despite his allergies?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Despite his allergies,” Tony affirmed with a chuckle. “He’ll be clawing at his face later when he inevitably pets Friday and then touches his face, but cat-sitting for a couple of hours is fine. It’s the prolonged exposure that leaves him feeling like he can’t breathe and just… generally not good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, in that case… perhaps I could tempt you to come make my place feel a little less lonely? A couple of movies, and dinner, my treat?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds lovely.” More than lovely, really. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sent a text to Steve to let him know, settled their bill, and then the two of them began their rather long walk to Stephen’s condo, discussing movies to watch and dinner options as they went.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, big thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravehardt/pseuds/Bravehardt">Bravehardt</a> for betaing this chapter for me! You're an absolute blessing!! 💖</p>
<p>And thank you, readers, for your patience. This... was a long time coming. I have the story fully outlined, things have just been a bit of a mess for me in terms of my ability to focus on writing things. I absolutely promise I will finish both this and Embraced, it just might take a little time. Thank you all so much!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Rehoming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“He’s been discharged.” Steve sighed from his spot, staring at the ceiling and shaking his head. His hands scrubbed over his face as Tony offered him a beer and sat beside him. “He isn’t doing good, and I don’t know what to do. I can’t just leave him alone to go through all of this…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want me to help out?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not asking for anything like that.” Steve shook his head, taking the beer. “You’ve done so much for me already, I just… I want to pay that forward. I want to help him the way you helped me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Steve, you know I have a lot more going for me to allow me to give you that help. I have the privilege of wealth. I was able to do that for you because I had the means. You’re still in school,” Tony pointed out. “You’re not exactly stable right now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why do you think I’m stressed about it?” Steve sat up and looked at him. “I don’t want to impose on you. I want to do this myself. I want to help him. He’s still going to be in the hospital for a while, so maybe I have time to get everything together and make something work…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had a thought already. Of course he did. He didn’t know for certain whether Steve was hoping he’d catch on on his own, or if he didn’t mean to attach any suggestions to it at all. He didn’t want to assume that Steve was attempting to manipulate him, but he could imagine his roommate not being certain how to brooch the subject despite Tony offering to help.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll need to clean out the kitten room,” he explained to Stephen the next day, fidgeting, “but I can’t even start to do that until Friday has a home. I don’t know how much time there is until they let him out of the hospital, he’s recovering still from the loss of an arm so… I’d have to talk to someone about what I can do to make the place more accessible…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony buried his face in his hands, and Stephen watched him over the table quietly. “Well, as it turns out I may have a home for Friday.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Tony looked up quite suddenly, pulled out of his stressed thoughts by Stephen’s words. “Who? Where?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It just so happens that my building has finally agreed to allow pets,” Stephen started, and Tony watched him with steadily widening eyes as realization struck him. “And I would be more than honoured to provide Friday with a forever home. If I meet your stringent criteria, of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stephen…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m in the process of making the house safer for her so that there are no accidents. I’ve been lonely since Wong left, anyway, and it would be nice to have a friend,” he added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a part of Tony that could imagine flinging himself across the table to hug the taller man, but that part was stifled by shock and awe. “You don’t have to do this, you know, I wasn’t trying to guilt you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you kidding?” Stephen laughed a warm, reassuring laugh. “I am not feeling guilt at all. I’ve been canvasing the building for the last month and a half trying to convince the tenants this would be okay. I want her, Tony. I really do. I told you I wouldn’t let her go unadopted, and I meant it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could’ve kissed the man. The thought was on his mind, and he couldn’t wholly understand why Stephen was giving him such a peculiar, soft look. Not until he felt a squeeze of his hand and realized that he’d reached out to hold the vet’s hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you want to come and check to make sure everything is properly kitten-proofed yourself?” Stephen inquired, and Tony found himself a bit flustered, looking down at their hands briefly then back at the vet in uncertainty.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, if I have to clean out the kitten room… do you even have supplies for a kitten? You can take her things… you know, it would be like…” His brain was floundering as he tried to put thoughts together about the situation, and Stephen didn’t seem ready to stop the punches from rolling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“After our date then? We can go pick up things from your place and head back to mine to set things up? Unless you want a few more days with her before you say goodbye.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... date? This is a date?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t it?” Stephen sat up a little straighter suddenly, looking a bit flustered and taken aback himself. It was a nice look on him, if Tony was being honest with himself. “Have I been reading things all wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No! No this can totally be a date!” Tony cleared his throat, looking down at their still linked hands and then rubbing his other hand over his face in embarrassment. “How long have we been dating?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... I would say officially for about three seconds?” Stephen responded with a lighthearted chuckle. “I’m sorry, I… guess I sort of assumed things…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, no that’s totally fine! I… am apparently oblivious? And I mean, it would’ve taken me probably another half a year to get around to asking you out so…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Should we discuss this some…? I want to make sure we’re on the same page. If this isn’t okay, I assure you I will be a reasonable human being about it,” the vet smiled at him, and Tony trusted those words in the depths of his heart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re on the same page, now. I’m just an oblivious idiot. So uh… let me make this up to you by taking you out on a proper date? You know, somewhere nice? Maybe… get you in a suit?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, we can certainly discuss it over dinner at my place? While we acclimatize Friday to her new surroundings?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You drive a hard bargain, Strange,” Tony smiled, squeezing Stephen’s hand for a moment and nodding. “Alright. Back to my place to pick up the car, the cat, and the furniture?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds divine. Do you want to warn your roommate? Or is Steve in classes today?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s visiting his friend this afternoon. I’ll shoot him a text and let him know not to expect me for dinner, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Most of Friday’s things came apart easily enough for transport, but both Tony and Stephen decided they were too lazy to take apart her cat tree and came to regret the amount of work that initial laziness cost them. Still, once it was in the elevator they had a minute or two to decide how best to handle getting it into the apartment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could take it apart…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The tools are tucked away somewhere in the bag with all her toys. It would be a mess to try and dig around to fish out the allen key in the middle of the hallway,” Stephen sighed. “If we’re careful we can probably tilt it down low enough to get it in. If we start with the bottom of it and lower it further as we go along it should work out okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your building is so much newer than the townhouse, I’m surprised the doors aren’t those hyper-modern tall doors that would make this easier,” Tony lamented, moving the bag out as they hit the right floor and the door opened. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stephen set Friday’s carrier down beside the bag, and once everything was out of the way they set to work moving the cat tree out of the elevator and began to awkwardly carry it down the hall. The vet gave an apologetic look to a brunette woman, offering a small apology to her as they moved to the side to give her more space to get by. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they finally reached his condo door, they set the cat tree down and Tony went back for the bag and carrier while Stephen unlocked things. Stephen directed Tony to the room that Wong used to use, where he set down his armfuls before returning to give the cat tree a careful look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Top or bottom?” Stephen inquired, and Tony cast him a brief, cheeky smirk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, you really just came out and asked that immediately after we step through your door, huh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>cat tree</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Tony.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, I know,” the brunette laughed a bit, shaking his head. “I’ll grab the bottom since you have a bit of reach on me with those gangly arms of yours.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took them almost five minutes to get the thing through the main door and into the living room, to a spot near the windows overlooking the city. By the time they were done with that, Tony wasn’t certain he was ready to go downstairs to get the catbox and litter from the car. Still, he waved off Stephen suggesting he would do it, encouraging him to spend a little time with Friday and show her around the room that he had partially set up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Honestly, Stephen had made a rather cute space available for Friday - the room would eventually double as an office, Stephen had explained, but for the time being it would make the perfect staging ground for Friday into her new home. She took to chasing a ball around with relative ease, sniffing about and finding her food, water, and litter easily enough, but she didn’t bother to investigate the bed Stephen had gotten her or many of the little climbing posts and scratching pads that were laying around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As dates went it was pretty unassuming - they could have been hanging out as friends for all the obvious differences there were between this and before. But Stephen was a man of some subtlety, it seemed, and the changes came more in the equally subtle touches. He was closer, in general. His fingers brushed Tony’s more often, his head resting on Tony’s shoulder now and then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor with their boxes of takeout Chinese food, mostly eating their own food but sharing now and then. Stephen ate with a fork and Tony with chopsticks, though he mostly shoveled the food into his mouth rather than using them to pick anything up. Once Friday found one of her many places to sleep, the two humans extracted themselves from the room and curled up on the couch for a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony wasn’t altogether certain how he’d fallen asleep, but he woke up on the couch with a cozy red blanket covering him and a large pillow stuffed under his head. The smell of coffee and bacon had summoned him from the depths of sleep, and a sleep-ruffled head of hair graced his view as the coffee and food were placed on the coffee table in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Explaining where he’d been all night to Steve went smoother than he anticipated, but the result was that Steve and Stephen now had one another's numbers because Tony found himself hoping he’d wind up staying at Stephen’s more often.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oof, keeping up a schedule with things going on has been such a pain. I'm terribly sorry. I will be focusing to make sure this story is finished before I continue work on other stories! Next chapter is the last, and will likely be the shortest of the chapters, but as we know that means nothing for my writing lately. Thank you so much for your patience!</p>
<p>And big thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/atypicalsnowman/pseuds/atypicalsnowman">atypicalsnowman</a> for the beta! And just generally being an awesome person. ❤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I’m not a fan of my options,” Tony sighed, sprawled across Stephen’s couch as the vet stirred the stew with a hum of response. “I want to give Steve every opportunity to help his friend, but… I really don’t want to give up the TNR. Between the issues that we have already with Steve’s allergies, with concerns about Boomer around cats, and now having to give up the spare room, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep this up...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closed his eyes and ran his hands over his face as he thought over his situation, barely noticing as Stephen set a couple of bowls of stew on the table. His eyes cracked open as the man moved his feet, however.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what do you plan to do about it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I don’t have a plan right now,” Tony responded as he sat up properly, leaning in against Stephen for a moment before quickly shooing Friday away from the stew by collecting her up into his lap. “Steve’s been pretty adamant that he doesn’t want me to leave, and I know he can’t really afford to be paying rent or anything right now, but I don’t really know what else to do. I’ve caught myself looking at places online in the middle of the night, but I just don’t know how to talk to Steve about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well,” Stephen responded as he finished his mouthful of stew, “you could tell him you’re moving in with your boyfriend…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony snorted softly at that as he pet Friday before reaching to gather his bowl of stew. “Come on now, don’t go saying things you don’t mean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t say anything I didn’t mean.” Stephen looked over at him with a warm smile. “I’ve been thinking about it for a little while now, and I would be happy to have you here with me. Plus, having a vet literally in the house while you’re doing your rescues…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stephen,” Tony hesitated, trying to keep the stew out of Friday’s reach, “wouldn’t that be a lot? I mean, I love you, don’t misunderstand, but isn’t it… maybe a little fast?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe,” the vet shrugged slightly, leaning to press a kiss to Tony’s shoulder. “And if it is, we can discuss other options, but even if it’s just temporary, it’ll give you a little more time to sort things out, won’t it? Of course, this is just an offer. If you don’t want to, I can entirely understand. There’s no pressure, and I won’t be upset if you’re not ready for that,” he added with a warm smile, thoroughly undermined by Friday butting her head against his chin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure I’m against it,” Tony sighed softly, setting his stew aside and nudging Friday back down, “but I do still want to think about it, and my options.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. As you should,” Stephen agreed, finishing off his own stew. “The option is there, though. I just want you to know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Tony smiled a bit, shifting to rest his head on Stephen’s shoulder. “I just wanna make sure if I’m making this decision, it’s not a stress thing and I’ve weighed all my options. If I move in with you, I want it to be because I chose to, not because I felt like I didn’t have another choice.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“You’re sure about this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The packing was already finished. They’d already loaded most of the boxes into the truck. His essentials and his bed were about all that was left to move. And now was the time Steve wanted to ask this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sure,” Tony chuckled softly, looking at his roommate. “Having an office for you to study in will probably help with focus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re turning it into a gym,” Bucky stated passively as he stepped past the two of them to deposit one of the boxes into the truck, before turning to look at the pair with amusement. “Having some separation anxiety, Stevie?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, it’s not like that,” Steve groaned a bit, looking between the two before setting his box in the truck as well and running a hand into his hair. “I just… Tony, I don’t want you to feel like this is chasing you out or anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chasing me out?” Tony smirked, “are you kidding? You’ve seen my boyfriend. I’m getting an opportunity to wake up beside him every damn day, how is that chasing me out? And anyway, I’m already packed up, and Stephen and Friday are waiting for me at home. I have been promised a meal of the best pizza in New York!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re trusting a Nebraskan to feed you the best pizza in New York. That seems like an early warning sign that trouble’s brewing,” Bucky commented as he shrugged. “Anyway, the bed and mattress are up to you two. I’m kinda… y’know, not much good for that,” he added, waving to the stub where his arm was missing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The bed’s going into storage anyway,” Tony chuckled, watching after Bucky as he stretched and headed back inside. “I’m taking every excuse I can get to have full-time cuddles.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once Bucky was back inside entirely, Tony cast a quick look over at Steve. “So, what about the two of you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Friends only,” Steve assured him, though he smiled slightly. “Maybe that will change, maybe it won’t. But right now what he needs is a friend.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then he’s lucky to have you. I can’t think of anyone better suited.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should figure out some time monthly to get together for dinner or something, though. Even if you’re deadset on this, it’d still be nice to have a scheduled get together and just catch up and stuff,” Steve suggested as they headed back inside, the blonde trailing after Tony as he gathered up his bag of essentials. “For Stephen, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can talk about that while we’re unloading, if you like? Stephen will be able to give you a better idea of what his schedule generally looks like, and we can sort something out.” Tony grabbed the box and the pair made their way back to the truck, buckling in and getting ready to head out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably a good plan. You sure you have everything? No missing wires, no chargers left behind, no cat toys?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Even if I did leave something, I assume I’m still welcome to come collect things,” Tony smirked over at the man behind the wheel, and Steve chuckled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. Tony, you’ll be welcome to visit any time. You don’t need an excuse.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Tony was pretty entertained to find that Stephen was about as useful as Bucky for moving things. He did his best, of course. He’d put Friday away into the spare room, where she was making a ruckus but at least wasn’t underfoot, but he was limited to moving lightweight boxes and the like. It was a good thing Tony and Steve were capable of doing plenty of heavy lifting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The living room was something of an organized mess by the time six rolled around, with a pile of boxes carefully lining the floor to ceiling windows along the far wall. A few awkwardly sized boxes were scattered here and there, but aside from his essentials, he’d decided to wait until the next day to start unpacking - he was fucking tired.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had sprawled across the couch with his (admittedly decent) pizza, his legs over Steve’s lap, and his head in Stephen’s as they watched some mindless television. Stephen had already checked on Friday, but they had agreed it was probably best to keep her isolated until at least most of the unpacking was done, given how hard it would be for her to adjust to the changes in the apartment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Steve did leave, Stephen sent the rest of the pizza with him to make sure Bucky was fed. After seeing him off, Tony insisted on visiting Friday, and Stephen accompanied him happily, which led to a rather confusing moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... Stephen?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“... this isn’t Friday.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” Stephen responded even as a little black kitten began the process of climbing Tony’s pantleg, mewling at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who… is this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose that’s up to you. I thought Friday would do better not being alone, and when this little one was brought in the man who did so insisted he couldn’t keep him…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stephen you really shouldn’t have,” Tony started, frowning slightly before curling his hand around the little black kitten to lift him up, inciting immediate purring. “If I don’t end up staying--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t get you a kitten to make leaving harder,” Stephen shook his head, “I got a kitten because Friday needs her own company, or it’ll be a pain in the ass to try and socialize her later. I was also told rather specifically that I wasn’t allowed to name him.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony cast him a sidelong look at that. “And why is that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d been referring to him as Blackie all day, and the techs were… less than impressed with my creativity.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony snorted and covered his mouth at that, shaking his head. “Did you point out that Friday got her name because of the day I picked her up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t. But I figured I’d leave his name in your much more capable hands,” Stephen smiled softly, leaning to kiss his temple. “Still my cat, though.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then… Jarvis?” Tony looked down at the kitten in his arms thoughtfully, not minding the little pink beans that prodded at his facial hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is… that a name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was the name of our butler when I was growing up. Edwin Jarvis… I always told myself I’d name a kid after him one day. This is close, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then, Jarvis, welcome to the family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony smiled at that, pressing his face into the kitten’s belly. “Welcome to the family, Jarvis. Now, excuse me while I go find my little mischief-maker.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end, Tony never did leave. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And in the end, anyone with sense knew that Jarvis was Tony’s cat, no matter how Stephen protested.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all, always, for your continued support. I know this hasn't at all been to usual schedules (my individual pieces never are) but I hope this is a good reminder that I haven't gone anywhere. For those returning: thank you for your patience. For those of you new to this story: thank you for joining me. This was a project I had really wanted to do, so knowing it's done brings me such a sense of satisfaction.</p>
<p>Also, please never buy your partner a pet as a gift, unless it's something you've already discussed over the long-term. As cute as it might be, it so rarely ends well for the pet in question. And if you have the opportunity, please support your local shelters and rescuers! ❤</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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